Got a shindig coming up? Any daydreams of a future fancy dinner party, milestone birthday, anniversary, halloween, friendsgiving or holiday gathering bopping around your brain? Enjoying good food, music and conversation with family and close friends is a real balm for these dark times. Let me recommend you throw a party, and let us flower it.
A week or so ago, a subscription member inquired about flowers for a party she was throwing for a friend’s book launch. Conveniently, we could deliver her party flowers on the same day as her subscription bouquet delivery. She sent photos of the apartment and gave me carte blanche to choose the palette and stems. She repeated “I trust you - I love your eye.” Words to melt my heart. Complete trust is a gift, and often the incubator in which our best work comes through.
My client’s only request was for hanging amaranth, and so once at the flower market, early on the morning before her event, I quickly found some choice stems at one of my favorite local flower wholesalers. And then, I jumped from wholesaler to wholesaler, and carefully chose a small number of ingredients in a not-quite-fall palette of dusty pinks and chartreuse greens to complement the cascading peach flowers.
Hi, you’re at a party!
The first signs of a party were a pair of mirroring arrangements, placed on a small entryway table just outside of the elevator that would deliver them to the proper floor. A handful of my favorite ‘Mystique’ dahlias made an appearance here, popping up from lush bases of hydrangea and ‘pistachio,’ the name given to the airy, ailanthus-like foliage in green to red tones. I still haven’t confirmed that this plant is the very same one that produces the nut, and I’m not sure I ever will confirm it. It’s harvested locally… but that’s the thing about floral folk vernacular: words/names get adopted into our lexicon, plucked from a particular seed catalog, or the brain of a random harvester/forager/farmer, that are then passed on to a wholesaler and then to a designer. Whatever that foliage is, I love it. Call it pistachio. We got to cover a wedding chuppah almost entirely in pistachio in mid-Sept., and I was in love. Hope to have photos to share soon.
Welcome in…
At the door to the apartment/event space, my client wanted something tall, to sit in the floor. I paired more hanging amaranth with extra large hydrangea blooms, pepperberry foliage and tall branches of banksia integrifolia - what a gorgeous leaf that is. These stood about 3.5’ tall.
The Statement Piece
In the large centerpiece above, designed for a centrally located dining table, more floofy pistachio and the finer, delicate fronds of peppergreass foliage created a playful, airy cloud-like formation. I had so much fun putting this one together. Tufts of hydrangea and wisps of wild Queen Anne’s Lace rounded out this sculptural design, meant to be eyed and enjoyed from any angle on an oval table centrally located in the room. What a character it turned out to be… I wonder what whispers and gossip it might have prompted around the room.
Mini Pin Frogs
About 15 small pieces - we call them ‘min pin-frog arrangements’ were made to place on countertops, coffee and high top tables. For these, a solitary bunch of chartreuse lisianthus - one of the last of the season (obvious due to the short length of the stems), some ‘Emerald Tassles’ amaranth for a twist, and more Mystique dahlias were employed. Ikebana design employs a small “kenzan,” or floral frog (which you can’t see here - it is a small metallic pincushion that is glued to the base of a vessel that is used to catch stems at whatever angle you want to place them). Without going into too much detail, I say these are Ikebana-inspired, in the sense that they lean on negative space and asymmetry to create a natural-feeling design. Ikebana is the traditional Japanese ‘art of floral design,’ and there is much more to it than an floral frog! However, the essence of this tradition is a major influence for me.
Was this all planned out, stem by stem, in advance? No. The magic happens when you have that license to create. You feel into the colors, the mood/shape/vibe of each stem, and they take you somewhere you never expected. This is where I find the joy in being a floral designer. Leaning into the best any week’s harvest has to offer, and seeing what new creation comes from it. Good music is essential. I believe we had Solange radio cued up on Spotify for the hour or two I spent on these arrangements.
If you have a special occasion coming up, you might just need flowers and I hope you’ll think of us! We love a last minute call. And if you don’t, plan a party! And make sure there are flowers.